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The Lost Carving
A Journey to the Heart of Making
The author of Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving recounts his career as a woodcarver and his path to becoming a forefront practitioner of the Baroque artist's forgotten technique. Esterly also traces the challenging and philosophically passionate year he spent replacing a Gibbons masterpiece that was destroyed in a fire at Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace.
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The Great Agnostic
Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought
Restores America's foremost 19th-century champion of reason and secularism to our still contested 21st-century public square.
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How To Be A Woman
Piecing together common-sense observations with scenes from her own life, a major media personality in the U.K. sheds new light on feminism, discussing the reasons why female rights and empowerment are essential issues for both women and society itself.NPR Bestseller
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The Queen of Katwe
A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster
Traces the story of an Ugandan teen who was introduced to chess by a missionary mentor and struggled to overcome formidable levels of poverty to become her country's national champion.
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The Ledge
An Adventure Story Of Friendship And Survival On Mount Rainier
The Ledge documents the 1992 mountaineering venture during which co-author Jim Davidson and his best friend, Mike Price, ascended Mount Rainier before a tragic fall that instantly ended Mike's life and forced Jim to climb to safety with sparse equipment.
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Once Upon A Secret
My Affair With President John F. Kennedy And Its Aftermath
A former mistress of the 35th president breaks 40 years of silence to present a memoir of their 18-month relationship, when she was a college intern at the White House, and discusses the effects of keeping silent on her later life.NPR Bestseller
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A Curious Man
The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley
Neal Thompson recounts the life of Robert Ripley, the enigmatic cartoonist-turned-globetrotting-millionaire who won international fame by celebrating the world's strangest oddities, and whose outrageous showmanship taught us to believe in the unbelievable.
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As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh
Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980
A second volume of journals shares intimate reflections on the writer's artistic and political development during a trip to Hanoi at the peak of the Vietnam War and throughout her film-making years in Sweden before the dawn of the Reagan era.
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All We Know
Three Lives
Lisa Cohen chronicles the lives of New York intellectual Esther Murphy, celebrity ephemera collector Mercedes de Acosta and British Vogue editor Madge Garland as well as their lifestyles, influence on fashion and celebrity friendships.
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Dearie
The Remarkable Life Of Julia Child
Julia Child was a genuine rebel: She took the pretensions that embellished French cuisine and fricasseed them to a fare-thee-well, paving the way for a new era of American food — not to mention blazing a new trail in television. Bob Spitz reveals the history behind the woman who taught America how to cook.NPR Bestseller
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I'm Your Man
The Life Of Leonard Cohen
An intimate portrait of one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time, I'm Your Man draws upon Leonard Cohen's private archives and a wealth of interviews with many of his closest associates, colleagues and other artists whose work he has inspired.NPR Bestseller
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Barack Obama
The Story
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of They Marched Into Sunlight draws on hundreds of interviews and written sources to present a richly textured account of the 44th president and the forces that shaped his character and beliefs, tracing the experiences of family members before his birth through his entry into politics.NPR Bestseller
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A Difficult Woman
The Challenging Life And Times Of Lillian Hellman
A provocative assessment of the controversial playwright challenges the opinions of her detractors while exploring contradictions in her character, from her non-practice of Judaism and her impassioned but nonpartisan political views to her sexual freedom in spite of a scorn for the women's movement and her writing of memoirs that repeatedly questioned the authenticity of memory.
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The Black Count
Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, And The Real Count Of Monte Cristo
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas was one of the heroes of the French Revolution, leading armies of thousands in triumph through the snows of the Alps and the sands of Egypt. Today, he is almost forgotten, though he lives on in his son's stories. The son of a Haitian slave and a French nobleman, this mixed-race swordsman was the father of novelist Alexandre Dumas, and his adventures helped inspire The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. Tom Reiss' biography of the elder Dumas explores the real-life adventures behind these classic novels.
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Wild
From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington state — and she would do it alone.NPR Bestseller
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Waging Heavy Peace
A Hippie Dream
Two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Neil Young presents the story of his career against a backdrop of 40 years of history. He discusses such topics as his collaborations with fellow artists, his creative process and his activist work with Farm Aid and The Bridge School.NPR Bestseller
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The Patriarch
The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy
Historian David Nasaw draws on exclusive records to offer insight into Joseph P. Kennedy's shrewd financial talents and considerable ambition for his family, providing coverage of such topics as the controversies surrounding his character and his role in several mainstream political events.NPR Bestseller
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Wherever I Wind Up
My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball
Relates the author's unlikely journey to the big leagues after his athletic dream was nearly destroyed and how he was sustained by his Christian faith and the love of his family before emerging as one of the National League's premier pitchers.
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Blue-Eyed Devil
A Road Odyssey Through Islamic America
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Where The Heart Beats
John Cage, Zen Buddhism, And The Inner Life Of Artists
Assesses the influence of Zen Buddhism on the work of composer John Cage, exploring the ways in which Zen transformed Cage's troubled psyche, his relationship with partner Merce Cunningham, and his often indefinable music.
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No Regrets
Writings On Scott Walker
Scott Walker has travelled from teen idol to the outer limits of music. From 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More' reaching no.1 through to recordings of meat being punched on his last album, The Drift, he somehow seems to have reached a passionate and committed fan base, and his impeccable critical reputation as a serious and uncompromising musician has never been under question. The recent film, 30th Century Man, had a litany of stars queuing up to praise Walker: the likes of David Bowie, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Radiohead, Johnny Marr and Sting. But despite this, in forty years of music, there has yet to be a serious book on Scott Walker. This collection put together by Rob Young of The Wire magazine features a handful of previously published articles and newly commissioned pieces, largely drawn from the orbit of The Wire's writers including Ian Penman, Chris Bohn and Rob Young.
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Life Is A Gift
The Zen Of Bennett
The entertainment icon presents an array of stories that capture humorous and inspirational moments from his sixty-year career. He shares the wisdom he has gained from his own experiences and from the people he met along the way.
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The One
The Life And Music Of James Brown
A tribute to the life and achievements of the "Godfather of Soul" draws on interviews with more than 100 people who knew him personally or played with him professionally, providing coverage of such topics as his unconventional youth in a segregated South, his complicated family life and his work as a Civil Rights advocate and entrepreneur.
News and Reviews
Rod
The Autobiography
A personal portrait by the legendary singer recounts his life on and off the stage, from his humble British roots and riotous years on tour, to his three marriages and decades as a solo performer.
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The Brontes
Wild Genius On The Moors: The Story Of A Literary Family
A history of the Bronte family is based on years of research and correspondence by each family member, challenging traditionally accepted portraits of the patriarchal Patrick and revealing Charlotte's ruthless nature, in a revised edition that incorporates the newest research.
News and Reviews
Marmee & Louisa
The Untold Story Of Louisa May Alcott And Her Mother
A great niece and cousin of Louisa May Alcott draws on newly uncovered family papers to present a revisionist portrait of Louisa's relationship with her mother, discussing how Abigail May served as the intellectual and emotional center of Louisa's life.
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Elsewhere
A Memoir
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls presents an upbeat personal account of his youth, his parents and the 1950s upstate New York town they struggled to escape. He recounts the encroaching poverty and illness that challenged everyday life and the dreams his mother instilled that inspired his career.NPR Bestseller
News and Reviews
My Husband And My Wives
A Gay Man's Odyssey
My Husband and My Wives: A Gay's Man's Odyssey is Charles Rowan Beye's memoir of a man reflecting on eight tumultuous decades at the complications of discovering at puberty that he is attracted to other men.
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World on a String
A Musical Memoir
Including first-hand stories of famous jazz greats and popular music icons such as Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Benny Goodman and Paul McCartney, a jazz guitarist, singer, raconteur, and the son of a jazz guitar legend shares the day-to-day experiences of a touring musician's life.
